stargate

This week's episode of 'Stargate Universe' left us with more questions than answers as Dr. Caine (Tygh Runyan) and friends returned to the Destiny.

But was that the real Caine, or was that a "shadow" of the real Caine created by a super alien race and sent to Destiny for some unknown purpose?

More troubling questions about Caine and the returning crewmembers followed their appearance: How did they get here? Why can't they remember anything? And why are they all dropping dead faster than a swarm of mosquitoes caught in a giant bug zapper?

It was hard trying to stay away from spoilers and promos for this week's episode of 'Stargate Universe' after last week's cliffhanger ending. Really hard. Mostly because you, lovely readers, decided that it was okay to post spoilers for this ep in the comments of my last recap!

But, hey, it's cool. You're free to discuss 'SGU' however you want to on this site. I read your predictions and spoilers and hoped -- prayed! -- that all of you were wrong or misinformed, because what you were predicting was just so ... sad. Unfortunately, you were right, and the worst thing that could have happened actually did happen last night.

So lemme get this straight: The Ancients built Destiny to search for God? As Rush explained it to Young, the ship was designed to explore space after the Ancients found evidence of a "structure," or a transmission, which was created by someone or something possibly before the dawn of existence. Life before life.

And discovering this structure and the being(s) responsible for creating it could lead to a new level of understanding and power that man has never experienced.

'Stargate Universe' has come a long way since it premiered last October. Now in its second season, the Syfy series has mostly ditched the tedious slow-burn plots that marked the first half of its freshman year for more action, adventure and space madness (CGI aliens! Space pirates! Starships that frak with your mind!).

But not everyone is a fan. 'SGU' still struggles with low ratings and with fans of the previous, sunnier 'Stargate' shows who, for whatever reason, aren't happy with the series' darker tone and character-based plots.

TV Squad got a chance to chat with David Blue, who plays slacker-genius Eli Wallace on the show, recently about 'SGU''s ratings vs. its DVR numbers, the angry fans and, of course, what we can expect from the rest of the second season.

Sometimes 'Stargate Universe' hums along like a well-oiled machine, delivering episodes that flow naturally from one to the other and telling an epic tale about flawed people living on the edge of space. And sometimes we get episodes that bring the overall story to a halt, like last week's puzzling stand-alone ep, 'Cloverdale.' This week, 'SGU' offered a mix of the two styles with an ep that centered on Col. Young (Louis Ferreira).

Young was suffering from 'Groundhog Day' syndrome as he relived the same event over and over again but was powerless to change the outcome. His recurring nightmare always ended with the Blue Meanies either blowing up the ship or taking it over. He just couldn't win.

Last night's episode of 'Stargate Universe' offered a bit of a departure from the show's usual ultra-serialized storytelling style. Instead of watching the Destiny crew dealing with the ongoing problems and challenges of season 2 -- Rush's attempts to control the ship, taming the Lucian Alliance prisoners, drowsy aliens -- we got a stand-alone story about Lt. Scott and his trip to Oz the town of Cloverdale.

Unfortunately, 'Cloverdale' wasn't exactly a jaw-dropping sci-fi mindfrak like 'Time,' last season's stand-alone episode. At times, the tone, pacing and story here felt like they were lifted from a cheesy sci-fi anthology TV show, like the '90s version of 'The Outer Limits' or (gasp!) the UPN remake of 'The Twilight Zone!'

This week's poignant and compelling episode of 'Stargate Universe' (directed by Robert Carlyle) was a nice change of pace after last week's solid but slow-moving hour.

'Pathogen' was light on action and heavy on character drama, but it offered strong performances, smart pacing and some expert tender storytelling.

Eli and Wray visited Earth while the rest of the crew dealt with Chloe's metamorphosis and the release of the Lucan Alliance prisoners. Everyone was nervous about the prisoners walking the ship, but it turned out that our heroes could be facing an even bigger threat from one of their own.

'Awakening' was full of exciting discoveries as Destiny came across an Ancient seeder ship and its otherworldly inhabitants. But the episode's brutally slow pacing and tranquil tone dulled the excitement of discovery.

It's a problem we've seen before on 'Stargate Universe.' Sometimes the show simply comes off too slow, gloomy and bleak, even when exciting stuff is happening.

A man can't run an Ancient starship alone. That was the key message of this episode of 'Stargate Universe.'

After a terrific and fast-paced season 2 opener, the show returned to the slow-burn storytelling style of early season one, but 'Aftermath' offered more memorable moments and a more compelling storyline than most of those early eps did.

The premiere wrapped up last season's swell of cliffhangers, but it also left us with a million new questions, most of them concerning TJ (Alaina Huffman) and the fate of her baby.

Season 2 opened with a close-up shot of TJ waking up in a strange room far away from all the action on the ship. It felt like an odd call, at first, to start the episode in a quiet new locale instead of where we left off last season -- with most of our heroes either about to get shot or fried by a killer pulsar blast on The Destiny. But the opening served to remind us that character takes priority over plot on 'SGU.'

This, as usual, got us to thinking of other currently running programs that could use a time shift to freshen them up. Subsequently, this led us to put our thoughts down on the hyperlinked paged for debate and comment. After the jump are but a few examples and how a time jump could benefit them.

(S01E13) We caught up with Eli, Chloe, Greer and Scott still stuck underground and looking for a way out. All hope seemed lost until the usually skeptical Eli dreamed up a plan to use the Stargates to "catch up" with Destiny. Meanwhile, the crew aboard the ship, determined to find the missing team, enacted a search mission once the ship dropped out of FTL. But they had their own problems to deal with; the ship's power seemed to be fluctuating, and Rush discovered that their next jump would be to another galaxy far, far away.

One of the great things about 'Lost' was how it allowed us to explore a number of different planets, if only briefly. For a show called 'Stargate Universe,' the characters don't really seem to use the actual Stargate very much. We're used to them interacting on the ship or using the communication stones to make trips back to Earth. It was a welcome change of pace to see the Gates spinning every few minutes in this ep.

(S01E12)'Stargate Universe' took a bold stab at character drama last night and delivered a fine and compelling hour of sci-fi TV. The eagerly anticipated Dr. Rush origin story didn't disappoint: 'Human' dropped us right inside of Rush's head to expose all of his secrets, pain and insecurities. Robert Carlyle would certainly be in the running for an Emmy Award this year for his amazing performance -- If they gave Emmys to shows with names like 'Stargate Universe.' You'll have to enjoy your Saturn Award instead, Mr. Carlyle. And I hope you do, because you really earned it with this episode.

(S01E13) 'Faith' didn't deliver the thrills of 'Space' or the suspense of last week's episode, 'Divided.' Instead, we got a calmer hour full of lush scenery and characters relating to each other with a "spirit of cooperation."

I was glad to see the civilian vs. military conflict start to die down. I'd much rather watch the characters try to relate to one another on a personal level than be divided by their job descriptions.

I'm really starting to enjoy the show's quiet storytelling style, and the characters are finally growing on me. Eli used to be my favorite of the bunch - and he's still up there thanks to his 'Wrath of Khan' reference last night - but I've become very invested in Johansen's story. She's the most human character on the show, which speaks to Alaina Huffman's excellent performance. Hopefully the major development regarding Johansen in this ep will only make the character stronger.